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A  UTHOR: 


HITTELL,  JOHN 
SHERTZER 


TITLE: 


A  CODE  OF  MORALS 


PLACE: 


SAN  FRANCISCO 


DATE: 


1890 


; 


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A  CODE  OF  MORALS 


BY 


JOHN  S.  HITTELL 


Second  Edition ^  Rerised 


San  Francisco 
THK   BANCROFT   COMPANY 
1890 


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K,.tcred  according  to  tl.e  Act  ol  Congress,  in  the  year  im 

BY  JOHN  S.    HITTELI- 
,„  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington 


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CONTENTS. 


OHAPTEK  I.— INDIVimiAI.  DUTIES. 


Section 

1  Morality. 

2  A  Moral  System. 
a  Golden  Rule. 

4  Standard  of  Truth. 

5  Moral  Independence. 
G  Misrepresentation. 


Section 

7  Evil. 

8  Death. 

9  Self-Respect. 

10  Develop  Yourself. 

11  Resist  Evil. 

12  SURROUNDlNfJS. 


CHAPTEU  Il.-SOCIAI.    I>UTTES. 

13  JUSTICE.  1^  Apology. 

14  REWARD.  19  Equality. 

ir,  Alms.  20  Disputation. 

16  Cheerfulness.  -1  Woman. 

17  Vanity. 

CHAFTEll  IIT.-INDUSTllIAL  I>UTIES. 


22  MoNEy. 
28  Specialty. 
21  Wealth. 
25  Debt. 

CHAPTEK  IV 

80  International. 

31  Greatest  Good. 

32  Communism. 


26  Poverty. 

27  Wait. 

28  Industrial  Freedom. 

29  Explicit  Contr.acts. 

rOLITICAI.    I>UTIES. 

34   l^IBERTY. 

35  Tyrannk'al  Capital. 

36  Education. 


33  Anarchy. 

CHAPTER  v.— KELIOIOUS  DUTIES, 

37  Respect  Your  Body.  42  No  Sacred  Institution. 

38  Meliorism.  43  Truth. 

39  Use  of  Evil.  44  Martyrdom. 

40  Depravity.  45  Conclusion. 

41  Defective  Institutions. 


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REFRCE 


tHE  manuals  of  Epictetus  and  Marcus 
Aurelius,  though  admirable  in  spirit 
and  form,  and  the  best  works  of  their  kind, 
were  not  complete  moral  codes  when  first 
published,  and  seem  less  complete  now  on 
account  of  the  numerous  and  great  indus- 
trial, social,  political  and  religious  changes 
of  the  last  seventeen  centuries. 

Standing  on  the  shoulders  of  the  men  who 
wrote  those  immortal  books  making  use  of 
their  labors,  and  striving  to  appropriate  the 
knowledge  of  our  time  and  to  put  myself  in 
harmony  with  its  spirit,  I  have  here  tried  to 
do  for  my  age  what  they  did  for  theirs. 

JOHN  S.  HITTELL 
San  Francisco,  Jan.  24,  1890 


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MORALS 

CHAPTER    I. 

il 


Individual  Duties. 

§  I.  Afora/?(y. —  Morality,  the  science 
which  teaches  us  to  live  happily,  is  a  natural 
product  of  reason  and  experience  and  a 
necessary  element  in  all  human  society.  It 
is  continually  progressive  nnd  its  develop" 
ment  is  an  important  part  of  culture. 

We  can  trace  its  growth  in  history.  We 
can  see  tribes  in  which  it  was  creditable  to 
rob  or  assassinate  any  one  belonging  to 
another  village;  in  which  homicide  was  the 
only  road  to  honorable  distinction;  in  which 
cannibalism,  human  sacrifices  at  divine 
worship,  hereditary  slavery,  unprovoked 
warfare  for  slaves  and  cattle,  the  ownership 
of  nearly  all  the  land  by  a  hereditary 
nobility,  despotic  chieftainship,  ecclesiastical 


«     • 


«'« 


TIES 


•»ti       *,«         t 
« •     •   *     *   ; »  ^' ;  .     t       »  > 

■•■•.••::;:■••:•..'..•••■•■- 

, , »    I ,  » I •     *     •  t ' .  •* » 

C  /     '     >     /.        :        iVDiVlDlJAL    DUTIE 

.fjer^e^utipp;  .^nd 'tfefasQrship  of  the  press, 
'Were  •estubll^hied  institutions  and  were  not 
only  considered  politic  and  just,  but  were 
blessed  by  the  priests,  as  of  divine  origin,  to 
last  forever.  The  overthrow  of  each  of  these 
evils  was  an  important  step  in  moral  pro- 
gress. 

Opinion  has  no  direct  ethical  character, 
but  it  often  has  great  influence  on  moral 
conduct.  As  aids  to  the  general  welfare  of 
our  race,  it  is  important  that  all  men  should 
accept  the  ideas  that  the  mental  constitution 
of  humanity  is  predominantly  good ;  that 
it  naturally  sympathizes  with  suffering;  that 
it  admires  justice  and  truth;  that  the  toil 
indispensable  to  supply  cur  physical  wants 
necessarily  develops  our  intellectual  capac- 
ity; that  this  development  brings  with 
it,  an  increase  of  general  morality  and 
enjoyment;  and  that  a  law  of  orderly  and 
beneficent  progress  pervades  and  governs 
the  life  of  our  race. 

That  human  nature  is  predominantly 
good  is  proved  by  individual  consciousness 
and  general  history.  We  detest  the  man 
who  murders  his  mother,  robs  his  best  friend, 
or  betrays  his  country;  we  love  generosity, 


MORALS 


magnanimity,  philanthropy  and  patriotic 
devotion.  Because  man  inclines  to  goodness, 
many  of  the  greatest  evils  of  the  past  have 
been  overthrown,  and  many  of  the  greatest 
evils  of  the  present  will  be  overthrown  in  the 
not  remote  future.  The  intellectual  part  of 
our  nature  is  rapidly  increasing  in  relative 
importance.  The  baser  passions  are  losing 
and  the  nobler  sentiments  are  gaining  in 
their  influence  on  human  life. 

§  2.  A  Moral  System.— ]Ji^^  a  consist- 
ent life.  Choose  a  system,  suitable  for  the 
guidance  of  all  men,  and  be  true  to  it. 
Of  moral  systems,  four  of  a  distinctly 
marked  character  are  before  you  for  selection. 
These  are  severe  asceticism,  crime,  mean 
selfishness,  and  justice. 

The  first,  very  rare  in  modern  civilized 
nations,  commands  abstinence  from  all 
amusements,  and  even  from  jovial  conver- 
sation; from  luxury,  and  even  from  comfort 
and  cleanliness  in  food,  clothing  and  dwell- 
ing, and  from  all  sexual  pleasures.  Severe 
asceticism  is  a  prominent  feature  of  Brah- 
minism  and  of  Boodhism,  and  was  at  one 
time  common  among  Christian  devotees. 

The  second  system,  crime,  is  a  violation 


INDIVIDUAL    DrriES 


of  the  State  law  and  a  general  violation  of 
the  rights  of  others,  and  requires  no  further 
explanation  here. 

The  third,  mean  selfishness,  teaches  a 
supreme  devotion  to  the  gratification  of 
personal  greed,  regardless  of  the  rights  or 
feelings  of  others,  but  without  violating  the 
civil  or  criminal  law.  The  meanly  selfish 
man  is  detestable  in  his  social  and  industrial 
relations  generally,  tyrannical  to  his  wife, 
to  his  children,  and  to  his  servants,  unkind 
to  his  neighbors,  and  unfair  in  his  business. 
He  lives  without  esteem  and  dies  unregretted. 

The  fourth  system,  justice  or  virtue, 
teaches  you  to  treat  others  as  you  wish 
others  to  treat  you,  and  it  trains  you  to  be 
a  good  friend,  a  good  neighbor,  a  good 
citizen,  and  a  good  man.  It  has  been  the 
rule  of  life  of  the  best  men  of  all  enlightened 
countries,  and  of  such  distinguished  ethical 
authorities  as  Confucius,  Socrates,  Aristotle, 
Epicurus,  Zeno,  Lucian,  Cicero,  Epictetus, 
Seneca,  Aurelius,  Paley,  Bossuet,  Bentham, 
Emerson,  Mill  and  Spencer.  Study  this 
system  and  live  in  accordance  with  its  pre- 
cepts, some  of  which  will  be  explained  in  the 
succeeding  sections  of  this  essay. 


. 


MORALS 


9 


Several  mongrel  codes,  composed  of  com- 
binations of  portions  of  several  of  the  four 
main  systems  mentioned  above,  will  be 
passed  by  here  with  this  simple  mention  of 
their  existence. 

§  3.  Golden  Kale. — The  Golden  Rule, 
that  you  must  treat  others  as  you  wish  them 
to  treat  you,  includes,  but  does  not  clearly 
teach,  all  the  principles  of  justice.  The 
interpretation  of  the  Golden  Rule  varies  in 
different  conditions  of  culture.  Men  of 
much  learning  and  talent  and  of  a  keen  sense 
of  dutv  have  considered  it  consistent  with 
slavery,  hereditary  nobility,  ecclesiastical 
persecution,  censorship  of  the  press,  despotic 
monarchy,  and  numerous  other  institutions, 
which  are  now  looked  upon  by  leading 
thinkers  as  grossly  wrong.  It  is  univer- 
sally admitted  or  implied  that  the  Golden 
Rule,  though  the  best  epitome  of  the  highest 
morality  in  a  single  sentence,  is  not  suffi- 
cient for  the  moral  guidance  of  humanity. 

§  4.  Standard  of  Truth.  — You  cannot  o:et 
outside  of  yourself.  You  cannot  see  with 
the  eyes,  nor  taste  with  the  palate,  nor  hear 
with  the  ears,  nor  think  with  the  reason  of 
another;     you    cannot    directly    read     the 


f 


la 


INDIVIDUAL   DUTIKS 


thoughts  of  others;  you  misunderstand  the 
characters  of  friends  with  whom  you  have 
associated  intimately  for  years.  You  are 
confident  that  you  know  the  rule  of  conduct 
they  would  pursue  in  a  certain  contingency, 
and  when  that  contingency  occurs,  they 
pursue  the  opposite  rule. 

Every  person  has  his  own  standard  of 
truth,  and  that  is  the  harmony  between  his 
mind  and  the  proposition  under  considera- 
tion. No  other  standard  is  accepted  practi- 
cally by  any  bod}'.  If  you  say  that  you  accept 
such  a  book  or  such  a  person  as  an  infallible 
guide  for  your  faith  or  your  conduct,  you 
mean  that  the  proposition,  of  the  infallibility 
of  the  book  or  of  the  person,  harmonizes 
with  your  mind;  and  any  idea  inconsistent 
with  that  infallibility  does  not  harmonize 
wMth  your  mind. 

S  5.  Moral  Independence , — You  may  have 
little  confidence  in  your  own  reason,  and  you 
ma}^  renounce  its  authority  to  a  considerable 
extent,  but,  you  cannot  renounce  the  au- 
thority of  your  moral  nature.  The  main 
motive  of  all  your  actions  must  be  to  please 
yourself.  **  Nature  has  placed  mankind 
under  the  government  of  two  sovereign  mas- 


MOKALS 


11 


ters  pain  and  pleasure.  It  is  for  them  alone 
to  point  out  what  we  ought  to  do  as  well 
as  to  determine  what  we  shall  do."  {^B.y^ 
Conceptions  of  pleasure,  especially  when  in- 
fluenced by  expectations  of  reward  or  punish- 
ment by  divine  agency  in  the  present  or  in 
a  future  life,  vary  greatly;  but  you  cannot 
do  anything  against  what  seems,  at  the 
moment  of  your  action,  to  be  your  highest 
pleasure.  Whether  you  risk  your  life  in 
battle  or  in  attending  on  the  sick  in  a 
pestilence,  whether  you  die  as  a  martyr  in  an 
inquisitorial  fire  or  as  a  weak  fool  in  a 
drunken  debauch,  pleasure  governs  you. 
Some  pleasures  are  base,  some  innocent, 
some  noble.  One  man  finds  his  highest 
enjoyment  in  noble  virtue,  another  in  base 
vice,  and  the  divergence  in  the  courses  of 
their  lives  may  be  chargeable  mainly  to 
their  education  and  their  surroundings. 

Do  not  assert  that  you  live  for  others,  or 
that  you  love  your  neighbor  as  yourself. 
You  do  not  and  cannot.  If  you  have  a  high 
character,  you  may  sacrifice  your  money  or 
your  life  for  them,    but   in   such   case   the 

*B,  stands  for  Beutham;  and  on  other  pages,  A.  for  Marcus 
Aurelius;  C  for  Cicero;  E.  for  Knierson;  F.  for  Franklin:  L. 
for  Lubbock;  and  S.  for  Seneca. 


If 


!| 


12 


INDIVIDUAL   DUTIES 


sacrifice  is  made  primarily  to  your  affection, 
and  only  secondarily  to  the  object  of  your 
affection.  The  greatest  and  most  generous 
sacrifices  of  self  are  also  sacrifices  to  self,  to  a 
noble  self-hood. 

Do  not  allow  others  to  dictate  rules  of 
conduct  to  you.  Examine  all  the  leading 
moral  codes,  including  those  of  the  Boodhists 
the  Stoics,  the  Christians,  the  Confucianists, 
the  Epicureans,  and  the  Utilitarians  (most 
of  these  differ  more  in  name  than  in  spirit), 
and  make  a  choice  for  yourself.  Be  your 
own  man  morally. 

§  6.  Misreprcsenlation, — Be  prepared  to 
be  maligned  when  you  declare  that  your 
own  enjoyment  is  the  highest  purpose  and 
duty  of  your  life.  While  blind  to  the 
weakness  of  their  own  positions  bigotry  and 
superstition  will  grossly  mistake  and  abuse 
yours;  and  even  kind  and  learned  genius 
will  sometimes  be  unfair  to  you  as  Epictetus 
was  to  Epicurus,  though  the  conduct  of  the 
two  was  governed  by  very  similar  motives. 
Their  chief  differences  were  not  ethical  but 
theological;  not  about  the  degree  of  service 
due  to  our  fellow-men ,  but  about  the  existence 
of  evil,  and  of  divine  influence  in  human  life. 


MORALS 


13 


One  of  the  most  common  methods  of  misrep- 
resenting ethical  theories  is  to  use  their  terms 
in  false  meanings  and  thus  convey  incorrect 
ideas  of  their  tendencies.  A  large  part  of  con- 
troversy is  the  result  of  differences  in  defini- 
tion. Cicero  says  that  when  Themistocles  told 
an  Athenian  meeting  that  he  had  a  project 
that  would  be  beneficial  to  the  State,  but  that 
he  did  not  wish  to  make  it  public, the  matter 
was  referred  to  Aristides,  who,  after  hearing 
that  the  scheme  was  to  burn  the  fleet  of  Spar- 
ta (the  ally  of  Athens,  but  also  her  chief 
rival  in  Greece,)  returned  to  the  meeting 
with  the  report  that  the  plan  was  not 
honorable  and  should  be  rejected.  His 
advice  was  adopted.  In  this  case,  the  word 
beneficial  was  used  improperly.  The  injury 
to  the  conscience  and  self-respect  of  the 
Athenian  people  by  such  treachery  would 
have  far  outweighed  all  its  benefits;  so  the 
project  was  impolitic  as  well  as  dishonor- 
able. 

^  7.  EviL — Do  not  imitate  the  mistake 
of  the  Stoics  in  denying  the  existence  of  evil. 
Do  not  try  to  repudiate  or  rise  above  your 
human  nature,  by  declaring  with  Aurelius 
that    *'life  and    death,    honor  and  infamy, 


W 


4 


h 


bi 


14 


INDIVIDUAL   DUTIES 


wealth  and  po vert}',  *  <^  *  are  neither  good 
nor  bad,"  nor  that  they  are  "insignificant, 
despicable,  and  paltry."  Do  not  try  to  make 
yourself  indifferent  to  disgusting  odors  and 
flavors,  to  the  extremes  of  thirst,  hunger, 
heat,  and  cold,  or  to  the  contempt  and 
emnity  of  your  fellow-men.  Regard  all  these 
things  as  evils,  and  admit  that  it  is  your 
duty  and  your  desire  to  protect  yourself  as 
well  as  others  from  them. 

§  8.  Death, — Act  as  if  you  were  to  live 
for  many  years,  and  prefer  the  lasting  to 
the  fleeting  pleasures.  Service  to  your 
neighbor  ennobles  your  character  and  is  a 
source  of  enduring  enjoyment  to  you.  You 
will  delight  in  its  anticipation  and  in  its 
recollection.  If  you  have  a  low  nature,  you 
may  derive  a  satisfaction  from  base  conduct 
but  it  will  be  brief,  for  you  will  obtain  no 
happiness  from  looking  forward  to  it  or 
backward  upon  it.  No  other  treasure  is 
more  precious  to  man  than  his  self-respect 
based  on  the  consciousness  of  noble  purpose 
and  on  the  recollection  of  noble  conduct; 
no  other  is  so  secure  in  its  possession,  for 
it  cannot  be  taken  away  by  the  fickleness 
of  fortune  as  may  wealth,  office,  and  a  circle 


MOHAI>S 


15 


of  fashionable  friends.  Let  your  actions  be 
Sweet  to-day  vSo  that  there  shall  be  no  bitter- 
ness in  your  cup  to-morrow.  Do  not  imagine 
that  you  can  get  more  than  your  fair  share 
of  enjoyment  by  cheating  others  out  of 
theirs.  Knavery  is  the  child  of  folly.  It 
sacrifices  the  years  of  the  future  to  the 
minutes  of  the  present. 

While  living  as  if  your  life  were  to  be  long 
and  as  if  vou  were  often  in  a  remote  future 
to  consider  your  conduct  of  to-day,  be 
always  ready  to  meet  death  with  a  steadfast 
mind,  with  a  composed  demeanor,  with  the 
feeling  that  you  have  lived  as  a  man  ought 
to  live,  and  that  you  can  die  as  a  man  ought 
to  die.  Do  not  let  the  fear  of  your  last 
hour  fill  your  whole  life  with  a  cowardly 
disquiet.  (5.)  Make  yourself  familiar  with 
the  thought  of  death;  let  such  dread  as  it 
suggests  to  you  be  associated  not  with 
death,  but  with  the  fear  of  it.  {ib,^  If  you 
are  armed  against  death,  other  evils  will 
have  the  less  power  over  you.  (/^.) 

§  9.  Self' Re  sped,  —  Act  so  as  to  be 
worthy  of  the  respect  of  yourself  and  of 
others.  Compare  yourself  with  others,  and 
find   inward   satisfaction    in   a   comparison 


ii 


1(1 


INDIVIDl'AL   DUTIES 


favorable  to  yourself.     Be  careful  to  attach 
value  only  to  such  points  as  confer  moral 
and   intellectual  dignity   on    humanity;   to 
high  character,  capacity  and  education,  and 
to  the  qualities  associated  v^ith,  and  to  the 
achievements  accomplished  by,  those  merits. 
Honor  every  man   who   respects  himself  no 
matter  how  poor  he  may  be  in  money,  how 
different  from  you  in  color,  or  how  unpopu- 
lar in  his  race  or  nationality.     Pay  a  tribute 
of  recognition  to  every  form  of  moral  excel- 
lence.    Take  no  pride  in  possessing  wealth, 
hereditary  rank,  fine  clothes  or  fashionable 
friends;  and  pay  no  court  to  others  merely 
because  they  have  these  baubles.       Desire 
the  approval  of  your  friends  and  the   com- 
munity, and  congratulate  yourself  when  you 
succeed  in  obtaining  it,  but  '  'do  not  make 
your  happiness  dependent  on  the  fancies  of 
other  men"  (A,)  and  ''attach  more  value  to 
your  own  opinion  of  yourself  than  to  that  of 
any   other  person.''    (td.)  Remember    that 
*'the  basis  of  good  manners  is  self-reliance" 
(£,)   which  comes  partly  from   familiarity 
with  good  society  and  partly  from  the  con- 
sciousness of  your  own  merit.     Take  care 
that  no  one  shall  have  good  reason  to  des- 


MORALS 


17 


pise  you,  and  if  then  any  one  treat  you 
contemptuously,  you  can  regard  his  conduct 
with  indifference.   {A,) 

Adopt  high  conceptions  of  the  duty  and 
dignity  of  humanity,  and  let  your  chief 
fear  be  that  you  may  sometimes  fail  to  act 
up  to  your  ideal,  (id,)  "Let  nobody  surpass 
you  in  virtue  and  behavior."  (i6,)  Let  your 
supreme  satisfaction  in  life  come  from  your 
success  in  striving  to  be  a  good  man.  (id,) 

Do  not  try  by  fasting,  flagellation  or  self- 
mutilation  to  bring  yourself  into  such  a 
physical  condition  that  you  shall  become 
indifferent  to  life,  unmindful  of  your  friends, 
or  incapable  of  feeling  temptation.  Remem- 
ber that  without  temptation  there  would  be 
no  virtue. 

§  lo.  Develop  Yourself. — Educate  your- 
self Seek  to  develop  all  your  physical 
and  mental  faculties,  so  that  you  can  make 
the  most  of  yourself  and  of  your  opportuni- 
ties. Study  your  mind  and  your  body  to 
ascertain  whether  you  have  any  peculiarities 
or  remarkable  faculties;  whether  you  have 
any  superior  capacity  that  fits  you  for  rare 
success  in  oratory,  music,  painting,  poetry, 


18 


INDIVIDUAL   DUTIKS 


prose  coinposition,manual  labor,  the  manage- 
ment of  men,  or  the  organization  of  business. 
Spend  as  much  time  as  you  can  in  study. 
Read  or  try  to  read  the  great  works  of  popular 
literature.  Make  friends  of  books,  so  that 
you  need  never  wait  long  nor  go  far  to  find 
agreeable  and  instructive  companions,  and 
that  you  shall  never  feel  tempted  to  seek 
the  society  of  the  coarse  or  the  vicious  for 
mere  entertainment. 

§11.  Resist  Evil, — Resist  inj  ustice  when- 
ever you  can  effectually.  Do  not  make  a 
sheepofyourselffor  the  benefit  of  the  wolves. 
Do  not  encourage  and  reward  violence  and 
crime  by  cowardly  or  meek  submission.  Be 
ever  ready  to  defend  yourself. 

Resent  injustice  to  yourself  or  to  others, 
but  do  not  habitually  cherish  angry  passions. 
Do  not  keep  the  demand  for  vengeance 
always  before  your  mind.  Pity  the  man  who 
is  ever  talking  about  getting  even  with  the 
world.  Your  own  spite  may  cause  you 
more  unhappiness  than  would  the  wrong, 
that  originally  provoked  it,  to  a  wise  man. 
{A,)  Try  to  accept  prosperity  with  modera- 
tion and  adversity  with  fortitude.  Gentle- 
ness and  good  humor  are  great  aids  in  con- 


M ORALS 


19 


quering  evils  common  in  life  (z^.),  and  are 
powerful  protectors  against  misery,  even 
when  they  fail  to  prevent  the  outward  mis" 
fortune.  The  pain  to  which  we  submit  with 
composure  and  cheerfulness  loses  half  its 
terrors. 

§  12.  Surroundings, — Strive  to  bring 
yourself  into  harmony  with  your  surround- 
ings. Adapt  yourself  to  your  circum- 
stances as  nearly  as  possible,  so  that  the 
general  tone  of  your  mind  shall  be  placid, 
without  being  indifferent.  If  the  institu- 
tions of  your  native  country  do  not  suit  you, 
emigrate, and  if  you  must  stay,  accept  the 
situation  without  chafing,  and,  without  use- 
less and  irritating  opposition  to  evils  that 
are  too  strong  for  you  to  disturb,  but  with 
a  readiness  to  start  or  aid  any  reformatory 
movement  that  has  a  fair  chance  of  success. 


f 


20 


SOCIAL   DUTIES 


CHAPTER   TI. 


Social  Duties. 


§  13.  Jtisiice, — ^Justice  is  sometimes  un- 
derstood to  exclude  kindness  and  generosity, 
but  in  its  higher  and  nobler  sense  it  includes 
them,  and  all  our  duties  to  our  neighbors. 
In  this  sense,  entitled  by  the  Stoics,  (C. )  ' '  the 
mistress  and  queen  of  all  the  virtues,  "  it  re- 
quires us  to  be  extremely  considerate  for 
others;  to  be  cautious  about  attributing  to 
them  base  motives  for  actions  with  which  we 
are  not  thoroughly  familiar;  to  make  allow- 
ances in  favor  of  others  for  an  education  less 
favorable  than  our  own  to  the  development 
of  moral  character,  and  for  exposure  to 
temptations  greater  than  those  to  which  we 
have  been  subjected.  In  case  of  doubtful 
obligation,  construe  it  against  yourself. 

Life  is  a  chain  of  reciprocal  duties,  many 
of  which  arise  at  a  moment's  notice,  and 
cannot   be  foreseen  or  described   before   the 


MORALS 


21 


occurrence  of  contingencies  demanding  im- 
mediate action,  and  which  cannot  then  be 
fully  understood  without  strict  attention 
and  conscientious  thought.  Our  obligations 
are  greater  to  the  weak  and  poor  than  to 
the  rich  and  strong,  to  the  near  than  to  the 
remote.  When  our  action  is  to  affect 
another,  we  should  consider  how,  if  he  were 
in  our  place  and  we  in  his,  noble  justice 
would  require  him  to  treat  us,  and  we 
should  then  comply  with  that  requirement. 

Be  merciful,  generous,  and  just,  but  do  not 
let  your  indulgence  become  an  encourage- 
ment for  mean  selfishness  or  crime.  Do  more 
for  the  welfare  of  the  community  than  for  that 
of  an  individual.  Do  not  kill  or  strike  or 
speak  with  malice;  do  not  steal;  do  not  bear 
false  witness;  do  not  give  your  money  or 
your  pretended  allegiance  to  creeds  that  you 
believe  to  be  f-ilse;  do  not  violate  the  equal, 
industrial,  political,  or  social  rights  of  your 
neighbors. 

Take  an  interest  in  everything  that  con- 
cerns mankind.  ''Humanity  requires  us  to 
feel  a  kindly  interest  in  the  welfare  of  all 
men."  (^.)  He  that  cares  for  nobody  but 
himself  becomes   a   voluntary  outlaw,  {ib,) 


22 


SOCIAL   DUTIES 


hi 


Be  helpful  to  all  men  and  when  you  see  a 
person  in  need  of  your  service,  do  not  wait 
for  him  to  solicit  it,  but  step  forward  to 
assist  him.  As  a  duty  of  kindness,  be  polite 
to  all.  Impoliteness  is  a  proof  of  something 
wrong  in  the  feeling,  the  judgment,  or  the 
education  of  the  offender.  Show  your 
sympathy  with  suffering  and  your  gratifica- 
tion in  its  relief.  While  taking  the  most 
interest  in  enlightened  persons  whom  you 
know  and  esteem,  do  not  be  indifferent  to 
the  fate  of  the  rudest  and  most  remote.  Give 
no  support  to  any  cruel  or  coarse  amuse- 
ment. Inflict  no  torture  on  man  or  brute. 
But  avoid  foolish  sentimentality.  Kill  the 
insect  that  sucks  your  blood  and  the 
animal  that  you  need  for  food.  Fear  not 
to  vivisect  the  beast  whose  sacrifice  is  nec- 
essary for  the  instruction  of  your  surgeons, 
anatomists  and  physiologists. 

**Be  kind  even  to  your  enem3^  Show 
him  his  error  without  seeking  credit  for 
your  patience  with  him.''  (^.)  *' Forbearance 
is  a  kind  of  justice."  (/^.)  After  doing  a  be- 
nevolent action,  do  not  be  embittered  because 
the  beneficiary  shows  no  gratitude  or  the 
public   does   not   praise   you.    {ib.)  Do   not 


MORALS 


23 


boast  of  your  good  deeds,  nor  remind  your 
beneficiaries  of  their  obligations  to  you,  for 
by  so  doing  you  prove  that  your  main 
motive  was  not  regard  for  your  duty  but 
desire  for  their  praise.  *^We  should  give 
as  we  would  receive."     {S,) 

§  14.     Reward, — Do  not  fear    that   after 
a  life   devoted   to  justice,    you   will   regret 
your  choice  of  a  moral  principle.     If  any 
person  pretends  to  feel  such  regret,  you  may 
doubt  whether  he  was  faithful  to  the  system. 
The    concurrent   evidence   of    many    high 
authorities  proves   that   any    other   course 
will  be  unsatisfactory.  According  to  Spencer, 
mean  selfishness  '  'defeats  itself  by  bringing 
on  an  incapacity  for  happiness."     Aurelius 
has  observed  that  ''  honesty  is   always   the 
nearest  road  to  success, ' '  and  that  ' '  man  has 
a  lasting  mine  of  happiness  in  his  own  con- 
science if  he  will  but  dig  for  it."    Cicero's 
definition  of  morality,  as  '*  the  art  of  living 
wisely,"    implies   that   folly  is  the  insepar- 
able companion  of  vice.     Mencius  assures  us 
that  ''all  men  feel  the  sentiments  of  mercy 
and  pity"  and  Confucius,  that  "  if  you  are 
generous,  you  will  win  all."     Goodness  is 
everywhere    appreciated    and    everywhere 


i 


24 


SOCIAL    DUTIES 


rewarded.     Trust  to  the   general   rule   that 
every  just   act   strengthens    the   cause    o 
justice,  and  that  kindness  stimulates  kindly- 
feeling. 

The  greatest  mistake  that  you  can  make 
in  life  is  to  act  on  the  theory  that  you  can 
get  more  enjoyment  by  meanness  than  by 
generosity,  more  by  fraud  than  by  fair  deal- 
ing, or  more  by  violence  than  by  gentleness. 
Society  is  quick  to  perceive  and  to  punish 
trespasses  on  its  equal  rights.  Many  penalties 
that  do  not  appear  on  the  records  of  the 
criminal  courts  are  severe.  For  a  long 
time  you  may  pursue  a  career  of  theft  with- 
out arrest,  but  there  are  nineteen  chances  out 
of  twenty  that  you  w\\\  be  caught;  and  that, 
long  before  the  law  catches  you,  your 
acquaintances  will  understand  and  avoid 
you;  and  that  besides  becoming  an  outcast, 
you  will  be  plundered  mercilessly  by  black- 
mailers who  discover  your  crimes.  Besides, 
whether  detected  by  others  or  not,  you  will 
never  have  that  sense  of  security  and  that 
inward  peace  which  are  among  man's  most 
precious  possessions.  There  is  little  satis- 
faction in  stolen  money.  The  same  principle 
applies  to  petty   social   offenses   which  are 


MORALS 


20 


beneath  the  notice  of  the  criminal  law. 
The  foolishly  selfish  ' '  pursue  a  course  of 
action  which  neither  makes  themselves  nor 
anyone  else  happy."  (L.)  As  Bossuet  says 
' '  all  the  doctrines  of  morals  tends  solely  to 
our  enjoyment." 

**  Friendship  buys  friendship."  (E.)  It 
is  worth  more  than  it  costs,  and  everybody 
can  afford  to  pay  for  it.  It  is  so  cheap  and 
so  important  that  he  who  fails  to  get  it 
proves  his  own  gross  folly.  With  kindred 
coin,  and  at  prices  as  moderate,  you  can 
purchase  those  other  great  treasures  equally 
precious,  your  own  self  respect,  the  love  of 
your  family,  and  the  esteem  of  those  who 
know  your  general  reputation.  Without 
letting  lovable  motives  govern  all  your 
actions,  there  is  no  mastery  in  the  art  of 
being  loved.  By  giving  justice  and  kindly 
attention  to  everybody  with  whom  you  come 
in  contact,  you  can  acquire  all  these,  which, 
unlike  most  other  treasures,  cannot  be  taken 
from  you  by  war,  fire,  flood,  shipwreck,  bad 
harvest,  thief,  or  tyrant,  nor  can  they  be  in- 
jured by  rust  or  moth  or  mould. 

Does  any  man,  even  the  worst,  desire  to 
have  the  repute  of  being  a  bad  brother,  a 


26 


SOCIAL   DUTIES 


MORALS 


27 


bad  friend,  a  bad  neighbor,  or  a  bad  citizen  ? 
And  if  not,  why  should  he  not  make  the 
moderate  eflfort  required  to  be  good  in  all 
those  relations  ?  All  that  is  necessary  is 
good  sense,  with  character  enough  to  be 
influenced  in  the  actions  of  to-day  by  proper 
consideration  for  to-morrow.  There  is  no 
danger,  no  hardship,  no  privation,  no  strain, 
no  impossibility  in  being  good — that  is, 
relatively  and  creditably,  as  life  goes.  * '  The 
greatest  blessing  of  nature  is  that  which 
every  honest  man  can  bestow  upon  himself, ' ' 
So  says  Seneca,  and  elsewhere  he  assures 
us  that  ''There  is  not  in  the  scale  of  nature 
a  more  inseparable  connection  between  cause 
and  effect  than  in  the  case  of  virtue  and 
happiness;  nor  anything  that  more  naturally 
produces  the  one  or  more  necessarily  pre- 
supposes the  other. ' ' 

Do  not  try  to  find  an  excuse  for  theft  in 
the  idea  that  others  have  more  than  a  fair 
share  of  good  things  and  that  you  may  prop- 
erly help  yourself  to  their  superfluity.  This 
is  the  pretext  of  the  bad  man;  it  is  a  prepar- 
ation for  a  career  of  endless  crime.  If  you 
should  devote  your  whole  life  to  robbery  for 
the  purpose  of  equalizing  the  distribution  of 


»^ 


property,  your  influence  would  be  to  cause 
greater  inequality. 

§  1 5.  Alms,— While  kind,  do  not  be  weak 
in  your  treatment  of  others.  Do  not  squan- 
der your  charity.  Do  not  encourage  crime, 
idleness,  folly,  extravagance  or  mendicancy. 
Require  proofs  that  the  recipients  of  your 
philanthropy  are  worthy  of  it.  Give  no 
indiscriminate  alms.  When  you  have  money 
for  charity,  give  it  to  those  known  to  you  per- 
sonally as  worthy  of  your  aid,  or  entrust  it  to 
agents  who  will  acquire  a  similar  knowledge. 

§  16.  Cheerfulness, — He  who  wants  to 
make  life  pleasant  to  others  should  not  only 
be  polite,  but  habitually  cheerful.  If  suffer- 
ing physical  or  mental  torture,  he  should 
conceal  it  if  possible,  and  in  no  case  make 
it  the  subject  of  long  lamentation  or  of  unso- 
licited explanation.  Pain  decreases  by 
concealment  while  contributing  to  the  pleas- 
ure of  others,  and  the  diminution  is  propor- 
tioned to  the  difficulty  and  success  of  the 
last.  Continual  grumbling  about  the  world 
in  general,  like  that  about  one's  own  mis- 
fortunes, is  a  serious  social  offense,  and  sug- 
gests an  unsound  moral  condition,  as  well 
as  bad  taste  and  bad  judgment. 


28 


I 


if 


SOCIAL   DUTIES 


Study  the  art  of  talking,  so  that  you  may 
be  able  to  entertain  your  friends  with  a  flow 
of  pleasant  and  instructive  conversation. 

§  17.  Vanity, — Suppress  your  vanity. 
Do  not  disregard  the  social  rights  of  others. 
Do  not  boast  about  your  wealth,  your  office, 
your  elegant  dress,  or  your  stylish  friends. 
Do  not  be  ostentatious  in  your  ornaments* 
furniture  or  dwelling.  Do  not  avoid  intellec- 
tual and  worthy  people  merely  because  they 
are  not  fashionable.  Do  not  talk  loudly  to 
distract  the  attention  of  others  who  are  try- 
ing to  entertain  themselves  out  of  your  cir- 
cle. Do  not  insist  on  speaking  of  5'our 
hobbies  or  adventures.  Remember  Emer- 
son's excommunication  of  the  pedant  who 
afflicts  his  acquaintances  with  his  person- 
alities and  who  cannot  ''conceal his  wrath  at 
interruption  by  the  best,  if  their  conversation 
do  not  fit  his  impertinency."  One  of  the 
forms  of  vanity  is  the  habit  of  making  whin- 
ing appeals  for  sympathy.  *'The  sufferers 
parade  their  miseries,  tear  the  lint  from  their 
bruises,  reveal  their  indictable  crimes.  They 
like  sickness  because  physical  pain  will  extort 
some  show  of  interest  from  the  bystand- 
ers."  {£,) 


MORALS 


29 


§  1 8.  Apology, — If,  under  the  influence  of 
ignorance  or  passion,  you  have  insulted  any 
person,  make  an  explicit  apology,  first  as  a 
duty  to  yourself,  and  next  as  a  duty  to  him. 
Proportion  the  satisfaction  to  the  offense. 
If  the  latter  was  public,  let  the  former  be 
public  likewise.  Refusal  to  make  amends 
in  such  cases,  even  if  no  wrong  was  intended 
at  the  time,  and  if  the  only  offense  was  im- 
politeness, has  a  debasing  influence;  and  on 
the  other  hand,  the  acknowledgement  for 
the  error  is  an  ennobling  triumph  over  mean 

vanity. 

§  19.  Equality—  Help  the  tendency 
toward  social  equality.  Reserve  your  social 
homage  for  the  superior  moral  and  intel- 
lectual qualities.  Use  your  influence  against 
the  maintenance  of  hereditary  social  classes, 
and  against  those  distinctions  which  serve 
to  separate  the  rich  from  the  poor,  and  to 
perpetuate  the  separation.  Try  to  raise  all 
the  people  around  you  to  a  high  plane  on 
which  you  have  previously  placed  yourself. 
Do  not  forget  that  the  best  place  for  enjoy- 
ment is  the  company  of  your  equals. 

§  20.  Disputation. — Avoid  acrimonious 
disputation.     It  has  an  irritating  and  blind- 


ao 


SOCIAL   DUTIES 


ing  effect  on  yourself  and  3'our  hearers 
Give  information  and  suggestion  to  inquirers, 
but  do  not  thrust  them  on  the  unwilling. 
High  truth  cannot  be  introduced  into  igno- 
rant and  prejudiced  minds  by  mere  announce- 
ment. The  recipients  must  be  prepared  for 
it  by  a  progressive  intellectual  development. 
The  overthrow  of  folly  and  superstition  is 
slow  work;  in  many  cases,  scientific  discov- 
eries as  well  as  enlightened  moral  principles 
failed  to  find  general  acceptance  in  a  com- 
munity until  a  new  generation  accustomed 
to  them  from  childhood,  and  thus  liberated 
from  the  control  of  the  older  error  and 
superstition,  had  grown  up.  Do  not  imagine 
that  you  can  completely  reform  the  world  in 
a  few  years  by  mere  energy  in  scolding. 

§  21.  Woman, — On  account  of  her  more 
delicate  physical  and  intellectual  constitu- 
tion, of  her  inferior  capacity  for  breadwin- 
ing,  and  of  her  peculiar  responsibility  in 
maintaining  the  social  system,  woman  has 
a  right  to  demand  the  constant  care  and 
protection  of  man.  He  should  make  allow- 
ances for  differences  between  his  nature  and 
hers,  partly  perhaps  the  result  of  different 
educations  and  habits.     He  should  seek  to 


MORALS 


31 


^ 


adapt  himself  to  her  tastes  and  demands,  or 
at  least  to  study  them  with  much  care  and 
consideration,  so  that  they  shall  not  be 
passed  by  in  mere  ignorance  and  contempt. 
Treat  motherhood  as  sacred,  and  never 
let  it  become  compulsory.  Aid  women  to 
become  independent  pecuniarily  and  socially, 
so  that  they  never  be  forced,  as  the  only 
refuge  from  starvation  or  miserable  solitude, 
to  submit  to  men  whom  they  detest.  Do  not 
make  the  wife  the  slave  of  the  husband  in 
such  a  manner  that  his  ownership  shall  be 
treated  by  the  law  or  public  opinion  as  the 
most  sacred  of  all  legal  titles,  and  its  viola- 
lation  as  the  greatest  of  all  wrongs.  Do  not 
permit  the  husband  to  murder  the  adulterous 
wife  or  her  paramour.  Whatever  punish- 
ment they  deserve  should  be  inflicted  by 
judicial  decree.  Never  adopt  in  practice  a 
rule  which  you  would  be  ashamed  to  express 
in  your  law. 


32 


INDUSTRIAL   DUTIES 


CHAPTER  III. 


Industriai.  Duties. 

§  22.  Mo?iey. — Life  being  organized  on 
a  pecuniary  basis,  you  should  work  for  a 
living.  Work  also  for  enjoyment.  Those 
who,  by  disease,  social  prejudice  or  imprison- 
ment are  prevented  from  working  have  an 
unenviable  fate,  and  those  are  unfortunate 
who  cannot  work  at  the  occupations  best 
suited  for  their  tastes.  Such  an  occupation 
is  an  important  aid  to  the  enjoyment  of  life. 
Those  are  greatest  who  can  do  the  most 
work;  and  those  are  most  unhappy  who  do 
the  least.  Discontent  is  the  companion  of 
idleness. 

Be  a  worker  in  some  useful  occupation; 
and  whatever  you  do  whether  for  yourself 
or  for  others,  do  it  with  all  your  might. 
Accustom  yourself  to  doing  your  best.  Try 
to  acquire  the  highest  skill  in  your  business. 
No  matter  how  simple,  how  unintellectual 
or  how  dirty,  try  to  give  dignity  to  it  by 


MOKALS 


33 


#4 


faithful  attention  and  strenuous  effort. 
Work,  necessary  to  human  comfort  is  no 
cause  of  shame  to  you  so  long  as  you  do  it 
well,  and  can  get  n(»  other  occupation  more 
suitable  to  your  tastes  and  your  wants.  Do 
not  regard  work  for  daily  wages  as  enslaving. 
We  must  all  work  for  compensation;  and  no 
more  discredit  vshould  attach  to  the  toil  of 
the  ploughman,  the  blacksmith  or  the  cook 
than  to  that  of  the  lawyer,  the  physician  or 
the  judge. 

S  23.  Specialty. -^VL?ive  some  specialty 
and  learn  it  well.  Concentrate  your  powers 
on  a  small  field  of  usefulness.  Do  not  dis- 
sipate your  energies  in  frequent  changes  of 
business.  (£".)  Pay  strict  attention  to  every 
detail  of  your  business.  Let  everything 
from  your  hand  be  of  superior  quality, 
durable,  highly  serviceable  and  elegantly 
finished.  Do  not  fear  that  your  employers 
and  customers  will  not  appreciate  good  work, 
or  do  not  think  they  will  not  pay  for  it. 
Experience  proves  that  the  toil  and  care 
spent  in  gaining  a  reputation,  are  the  best 
investments  that  can  be  made  in  business. 
Many  great  fortunes  have  been  acquired  by 
them.     People   generally  know  when  they 


34 


INDUSTRIAL    DUTIES 


get  their  money's  worth,  and  they  not  only 
give  their  custom  to  the  trustworthy  work- 
man, but  they  give  him  their  respect  as  well. 
And  even  if  they  did  not,  he  has  his  own 
self-respect  which  is  worth  more  to  him  than 
their  money  and  their  praise. 

§  24.  Wealth, — Accumulate  property. 
Your  success  will  give  you  confidence  in 
your  talent  for  business,  will  assist  you  in 
finding  the  occupation  best  suited  to  your 
tastes  and  capacities,  will  educate  you  in 
some  branches,  will  give  opportunities  foj- 
getting  instruction  in  others,  will  protect 
you  against  the  discomfort  and  demoraliza- 
tion associated  with  some  forms  of  poverty, 
and  will  give  you  access  to  many  sources  of 
enjoyment.  Respect  money  and  aspire  to 
be  rich.  "  Man  was  born  to  be  rich  *  *  * 
Property  is  an  intellectual  production.''  {E^ 
Its  accumulation  is  one  of  the  chief  results 
and  best  measures  of  progress. 

§  25.  Debt, — Keep  your  accounts  care- 
fully. Live  within  your  income.  Pay  as 
you  go.  Incur  few  debts,  and  wipe  them  out 
as  soon  as  possible.  Do  not  let  a  creditor  wait 
a  day  after  his  money  falls  due.  Do  your 
part  to  give  a  character  of  punctuality  and 


MORALS 


35 


integrity  to  the  business  of  your  community. 
''The  best  use  for  money  is  to  pay  debts." 
(iS*.)    Debt  is   a   burden    to  the   honest,    a 
demoralizing  influence  to  the  weak,  and  a 
danger  to  the  dishonest.     "He  that  goes  a 
borrowing  goes  a  sorrowing."     Alas,  think 
well   what  you  do  when  you  run  in  debt. 
You  give  to  another  power  over  your  liberty. 
If  you  cannot  pay  at  the  time,  you  will  be 
ashamed  to  see  your  creditor;  you  will  be  in 
fear  when  you  speak  to  him;  you  will  make 
poor,    pitiable,    sneaking  excuses,  and   by 
degrees  come  to  lose  your  veracity,  and  sink 
into  base,  downright  lying.    For  lying  rides 
on  debt's  back.     A  freeborn  man  ought  not 
to  be  afraid  to  see  or   to  speak  to  any  man 
living,  but  poverty  often  deprives  a  man  of 
all  spirit  and  virtue.     It  is  hard  for  an  empty 
bag  to  stand  upright."  {F,) 

§  26.  Poverty. — While  seeking  to  secure 
wealth,  do  not  worry  about  your  poverty. 
Remember  that  many  men  are  relatively 
happy  without,  and  many  unhappy  with, 
wealth.  Consider  how  many  very  impor- 
tant sources  of  enjoyment  cannot  be  got  with 
money.  Among  these  are  a  noble  character, 
a   cheerful   disposition,  health,    satisfaction 


V 


36 


INDrSTRIAL    DITIKS 


with  one's  occupation,  habitual  industry 
the  affection  of  a  large  circle  of  friends,  fond- 
ness for  books,  social  tact,  and  an  aversion 
to  strong  drinks  and  strong  narcotics. 
Poverty  with  all  these  is  preferable  to  a 
million  without  them.  The  happiest  men 
are  not  the  richest. 

§  27.  Wat t— Do  not  be  in  great  haste  for 
results.  The  best  fruits  do  not  grow  on 
annual  shrubs.  Look  to  the  remote  as  well 
as  to  the  near  future  for  the  rewards  of  your 
labor  and  the  harvest  of  your  life  in  pleasure 
as  well  as  in  business.  Plans  requiring 
many  years  for  their  full  development  imply 
confidence  in  self  and  comprehensiveness 
of  thought,  and  give  dignity  to  character, 
Learn  to  wait  patiently  as  well  as  to  work 
thoroughly. 

In  selecting  an  occupation,  take  one  with 
little  risk,  even  though  the  profit  should  be 
moderate,  in  preference  to  another  with  great 
risk,  though  the  ordinary  profits  be  large. 
Avoid  gambling  and  speculative  enterprises, 
Advance  surely,  no  matter  how  slowly. 

§  28.  Industrial  Freedom, — Preserve  your 
own  industrial  liberty  and  respect  that  of 
others.     Do   not   obstruct  the  free  play  ot 


MORALS 


37 


supply  and  demand.  Do  not  hamper  the 
career  of  business  talent.  Resist  every  as- 
sociation that  dictates  the  prices  of  labor  or 
merchandise;  that  demands  as  much  em- 
ployment and  pay  for  the  incompetent  and 
careless  as  for  the  competent  and  careful 
workman;  that  prohibits  work  by  the  job; 
that  forbids  the  strong  and  active  workman 
to  do  more  than  the  weak  and  idle;  that 
commands  laborers  to  beg  rather  than  to 
accept  living  wages  under  the  rates  adopted 
by  strikers;  that  depends  on  crime  for  the 
enforcement  of  its  orders;  and  that  organizes 
a  minority  of  toilers  receiving  high  wages 
in  conspiracy  against  a  majorit}^  anxious  to 
work  for  lower  wages. 

§  29.  Explicit  Contract. — Take  care  to 
make  explicit  contracts.  Let  your  agree- 
ments in  reference  to  considerable  enterprises 
be  in  writing,  so  that  the  precise  terms  can 
be  fairly  considered  and  that  there  may  be 
an  authoritative  phraseology  by  which  the 
rights  of  both  parties  can  be  determined. 
If  you  have  accepted  an  ambiguous  phrase, 
bear  the  loss  of  half  the  sum  made  doubtful 
by  the  ambiguity.  If  you  are  the  author  of 
the  equivocal  language,    accept   the   inter- 


38 


INDUSTRIAL    DUTIES 


pretation  of  the  other  man.  Where  there  is 
reasonable  doubt  about  the  limits  of  your 
duty,  do  so  much  that  all  will  admit  that 
you  have  done  all  that  could  justly  be 
expected  of  you. 


MORALS 


39 


CHAPTER   IV. 


PouTicAi.  Duties. 

§  30.  Internatio7ial, — ' '  There  are, ' '  says 
Seneca,  '^  two  republics;  a  great  one,  which 
includes  all  mankind,  and  a  less  one,  the 
nation  in  which  we  are  citizens.  ^  *  * 
It  was  the  intent  of  nature  that  we  should 
make  ourselves  useful  to  both."  Our  obli- 
gations to  the  world  and  to  our  country 
harmonize  with  one  another.  Difficult  prob- 
lems of  conflicting  duties  are  too  rare  and  too 
unimportant  in  the  ordinary  life  to  require 
consideration  here.  He  who  serves  himself 
well  will  usually  be  a  good  neighbor;  the 
good  neighbor  is  a  good  citizen;  the  good 
citizen  makes  his  life  beneficial  to  the  whole 
human  race. 

To  other  nations  we  owe  the  obligations 
of  using  our  influence  against  aggressive 
warfare,  and  in  favor  of  international  friend- 
liness, of  international  arbitrating  tribunals 


40 


POLITICAL   DUTIES 


of  kind  treatment  to  foreigners  in  our  coun- 
try, and  of  a  liberal  system  of  commercial 
intercourse  that  will  give  reciprocal  aid  to 
develope  the  natural  resources  of  different 
portions  of  the  globe. 

§  31.     Gf€atest\}ood.—'X:\\^  chief  end  of 
national  economy,  the  greatest  good  of  the 
greatest  number,  demands  freedom  of  speech, 
of  public  meeting,  of  press,  of  worship,  and 
of  industrial  contract;  equality    of  political 
and  civil  rights  with  the  promptest  and  most 
efficient  protection  of  them;    the   offer  of  a 
high  education  to  all;  cheapness  of  adminis- 
tration; and  the  appointment  of  the   most 
competent  and  most   trustworthy   to  office 
without  regard  to  partisan  service  or  family 
influence.     For  the  purpose  of  preventing 
the  perpetuation  of  wealth    and   poverty  in 
hereditary  classes  of  society  it  is  important 
that  taxes  should  be  levied  on  accumulated 
wealth  rather  than  on  labor;  that  the  system 
of    land  conveyance  should  be  simple  and 
cheap;  and   that   the   law   should   prohibit 
primogeniture,  long  leases,  long  entails,  and 
the    immediate    or  oft   repeated  renewal  of 
short  entails. 


MORALS 


41 


Do  not  subordinate  the  interest  of  the 
community  to  the  greed  or  whim  or  foolish 
affectionof  any  individual.  Do  not  permit 
the  multiplication  of  lunatics,  idiots,  lepers 
or  others  afflicted  with  grave  physical  and 
mental  ailments  which  pass  by  inheritance 
to  children  and  make  life  a  burden  to  them 
and  to  others.  Do  not  allow  infants  born 
blind,  deaf,  idiotic,  monstrous  or  seriously 
deformed  to  live.  Never  let  indulgence  to 
the  drone  or  the  evil-doer  outweigh  justice 
to  the  community.  Exterminate  promptly 
the  professional  criminal,  the  anarchist  crim- 
inal, the  insane  criminal,  the  professional 
gambler,  the  sturdy  beggar,  and  the  habit- 
ual drunkard. 

§  32.  Communism. — Resist  communism, 
not  because  of  its  purpose,  but  because  of 
its  method.  Its  purpose  is  the  welfare  of 
the  multitude.  Its  method  is  a  long  and 
sudden  jump  beyond  all  governmental  expe- 
rience. Its  advocates  lack  either  judgment 
or  honesty.  Numerous  communistic  exper- 
iments, of  which  the  most  notable  have 
been  those  of  Paris  in  1792,  1848  and  1870, 
have  been  tried  and  all  have  ended  in  dis- 
graceful  and  disastrous  failure.      Political 


42 


POLITICAL   DUTIES 


change  to  be  safe  must  be  slow.  Every 
advance  should  be  by  a  small  step,  and 
wrhen  that  has  gained  a  good  foothold, 
another  may  be  taken  in  the  same  direction, 
and  so  on.  Experience  must  serve  as  the 
constant  guide.  Thus  was  established  the 
fabric  of  the  British  constitutional  freedom, 
the  greatest  contribution  to  polity  ever  made 
by  one  nation.  The  communist  is  a  dan- 
gerous citizen;  not  so  the  ultimate  commu- 
nist who  desires  to  reach  the  same  ends  by 
long  series  of  small  political  reforms  each 
of  which  shall  prove  its  soundness  before 
its  successor  shall  appear  on  the  scene. 

§  33-  Anarchy, —  Give  no  encourage- 
ment to  the  anarchists.  It  is  a  great  mistake 
to  suppose  that  the  condition  of  the  poor 
would  be  improved  by  the  overthrow  of  the 
government.  The  worst  of  all  political 
conditions,  for  poor  as  well  as  rich,  for 
strong  as  well  as  weak,  is  that  in  which 
there  is  no  law  and  no  efficient  administra- 
tion of  law.  The  evils  of  anarchy,  and  even 
of  any  approximation  to  it,  are  so  great  that 
every  community  which  has  tried  it  has 
been  anxious  to  escape  from  it,  even  when 
the   first   refuge    from   it    was    despotism. 


MORALS 


43 


Anarchy    is    the     natural    foundation    of 
tyranny. 

§  34.  Liberty, — Do  not  imagine  that 
freedom  and  anarchy  are  friends.  They 
are  irreconcilable  enemies.  So  soon  as  one 
obtains  power  it  destroys  the  other. 
Political  liberty  is  not  a  condition  in  which 
everybody  can  murder,  rob  and  enslave  his 
neighbor  without  governmental  interference, 
but  one  in  which  every  citizen  securely 
enjoys  equal  political  and  civil  rights. 
Like  other  human  institutions,  it  nowhere 
exists  in  perfection,  but  its  highest  develop- 
ments are  found  under  the  authority  of 
complex  written  law  and  elaborate  judicial 
and  executive  systems  of  administration. 

^  35.  Tyran7iical  CapitaL — Do  not  be- 
lieve those  communists  and  anarchists  who 
assert  that  the  poor  are  growing  poorer  and 
that  a  combination  of  rich  men,  high  officials 
and  scholars,  for  the  oppression  of  the  labor- 
ing class,  has  control  of  all  civilized  nations. 
Such  assertions  are  the  expressions  of  igno- 
rance and  demagogism,  and  are  notoriously 
the  sources  of  much  profit  to  politicians  and 
journalists,  who  parade  them  before  the  pub- 
lic in   various   forms.     The  ruling   classes 


44 


POLITICAL   DUTIES 


everywhere  are  anxious  to  improve  the  con- 
dition of  the  multitude,  but  the  task  of  im- 
provement by  political  measures  is  one  of 
great  difficulty  and  of  slow  progress.     The 
nations  under  the  control  of  manhood  suf- 
frage, including  the  United  States,  Switzer- 
land and  France;  have  not,  in  the  last  fifty 
years,  made  one  great  original  improvement 
in  the  guaranties  of  equal  political  rights: 
nor  in  those  nations,  are  the  multitude  now 
agreed  in  demanding  any  reform  for  their 
own  benefit,  though  the  communistic  agi- 
tators  declare  that  their  governments  are 
controlled  by  the  capitalists  for  the  oppres- 
sion of  the  poor.    The  condition  of  the  many 
will  improve  with  their  education  and  can- 
not run  far  in  advance  of  it.      The   most 
dangerous  enemies  of  the   poor  are   those 
demagogues  who  would  like  to  bring  on  a 
destructive  revolution,  and  who  pretend  that 
the  hardships  of  poverty  are  mainly  charge- 
able to  the  officials  in  power. 

§  36.  Education. — Make  education  the 
chief  function  of  your  political  system. 
Teach  the  young  not  merely  the  branches 
of  a  common  school  course,  but  also  of  the 
useful  arts  and  learned  professions,  so  "that 


MORALS 


45 


a  large  proportion  of  the  men  and  women 
shall  be  familiar  with  those  occupations 
which  now  command  large  incomes,  and  so 
that  an  approach  shall  be  made  towards  the 
equalization  of  pay  for  mental  and  physical 
labor. 


46 


RELIGIOUS   DUTIES 


CHAPTER    V 


Religious  Duties 

§  37.  Respect  your  body.—T)o  not  despise 
your  body.  Do  not  degrade  yourself  by 
fasting,  vigils,  self-flagellation  or  abstinence 
from  any  enjoyment  that  does  not  injure 
yourself  or  others.  Do  not  sacrifice  the 
certainties  or  neglect  the  opportunities  of  the 
world.  Treat  this  life  not  as  a  mere  proba- 
tion or  introduction  to  another,  but  as  a 
sphere  worthy  of  all  your  zeal  and  interest, 
as  sufficient  in  itself  to  reward  your  highest 
ambition. 

§  38.  Meliorism. — Do  not  waste  vour 
time  in  quarreling  with  the  moral  system 
of  the  world,  in  cursing  your  luck,  or  in  de- 
claring that  life  is  not  worth  living;  that  evil 
greatly  predominates  over  good;  and  that 
the  poverty  and  moral  degradation  of  the 
poor  are  continually  increasing.  The  gen- 
eral and  almost  universal  decision  of  the 
wise  and   the  foolish,  the  learned  and  the 


MORALS 


47 


ignorant  in  every  age  and  country  has  been 
that  life  is  precious,  that  death  is  the 
greatCvSt  of  evils,  that  pleasure  outweighs 
pain,  and  that  good  predominates  over 
evil.  Among  those  who  deserve  to  be  con- 
sidered the  highest  authorities,  the  opinion 
prevails  that  the  moral,  intellectual  and 
industrial  condition  of  the  many  is  rapidly 
improving  in  enlightened  nations. 

§  39.  Use  of  EviL — Do  not  overlook  the 
fact  that  evil,  lamentable  as  its  influences  are 
in  many  ways,  is  indispensable  to  human 
nature.  Man  could  not  be  what  he  is  with- 
out evil;  that  is,  ungratified  want.  If  he 
had  no  wants  requiring  effort  for  their  grati- 
fication, his  life  would  be  without  stimulus, 
without  interest,  without  ambition,  without 
intellectual  or  moral  growth  for  the  race  or 
the  individual.  He  would  be  lower  than 
the  brute,  as  low  as  the  vegetable,  in  the 
scale  of  existence.  He  might  as  well  not 
be.  Whether  he  could  have  been  constituted 
differently,  so  that  without  the  stimulus  of 
evil  he  could  have  enjoyed  an  intellectual 
development  as  rapid  as  at  present,  is  a 
question  that  deserves  no  consideration  here. 


I 


48 


KELIGIOrS   DLTIES 


§  40.  Depravity,  Do  not  readily  accept 
the  supposition  that  all  the  high  morality  and 
all  the  people  who  deserve  to  escape  eternal 
perdition  are  in  yo\xx  church.  If  you  will 
examine  the  best  authorities  you  will  find 
that  many  of  the  noblest  ethical  maxims 
were  common  among  the  Chinese,  the  Egyp- 
tians, the  Hindoos,  the  Persians  and  the 
Greeks  as  early  as  among  the  Jews  or  the 
Christians.  You  will  find  that  the  rules  of 
returning  good  for  evil  and  of  protecting 
and  comforting  the  poor  and  weak  were 
known  long  before  the  time  of  Moses. 
Noble  virtue  has  been  found  connected  with 
forms  of  religion  so  divergent  that  it  evi- 
dently does  not  grow^  out  of  or  depend  on 
any  theological  dogma.  It  flourished  among 
the  Confucians,  who  have  neither  a  god 
nor  a  future  life.  It  flourished  among  the 
polytheistic  Greeks  and  Romans,  who  had 
no  definite  idea  of  rewards  and  punishments 
in  a  future  life.  We  do  not  know  the  origi- 
nal authorship  of  any  valuable  moral  prin- 
ciple. 

§  41 .  Defective  Institutio7is, — Much  of  our 
immorality  is  the  result  of  defective  social, 
political,  industrial  and  ecclesiastical  institu- 


MORALS 


49 


tions  as,  in  the  past,  it  was  of  despotic  mon- 
archy, hereditary  nobility,  serfdom,  slavery, 
ecclesiastical  persecution,  aggressive  warfare, 
the  mediaeval  guild  system,  and  popular  ig- 
norance. By  their  injustice,  all  these  evils 
provoked  injustice  and  bred  immorality.  In 
the  most  enlightened  nations  of  our  time 
serious  evils  exist  and  they  breed  other 
evils.  Time  teaches  man  to  know  himself; 
and  that  increasing  knowledge  implies  a 
successive  adaptation  of  social  and  political 
institutions,  of  moral  ideas  and  of  industrial 
processes  better  suited  than  those  of  previous 
ages  to  his  wants  and  capacities. 

§  42.  No  Sacred  bistitictions. — You  may 
be  told  that  this  or  that  institution  is  of  im- 
mediate divine  origin  and  must  not  be  mod- 
ified nor  destroyed  by  hostile  legislation.  If 
you  will  read  the  history  of  Egypt,  Hindo- 
stan,  Babylonia,  Assyria,  Persia,  Arabia, 
India,  Greece,  Rome,  Carthage,  Gaul  and 
Utah,  you  will  find  that  such  claims  have  so 
often  been  made  falsely  that  you  will  be 
somewhat  suspicious.  Demand  conclusive 
proof  of  the  divine  origin.  Remember  the 
legal  maxims  that  the  more  important  the 
averment  and  the  less  consistent  with  ordi- 


50 


RELIGIOUS   DUTIES 


nary  experience,  the  stronger  should  be  the 
proof;  and  that  the  evidence  must  be  the  best 
obtainable   under   the   circumstances.       It 
might  be  difficult  to  say  what  would  be  the 
best  evidences  that  divine  power  could   fur- 
nish lo  sustain  its  own  work,  but  they  would 
presumably  include  indisputable  proof  that 
the  institution  in  question,  unlike  those  of 
human  origin,  was  perfect  from  the  first,  and 
had  never  suffered  the  least  change  by  decay, 
growth  or  reform;  that  the  agents,  to  whose 
care  it  had  been  intrusted  had  been  perfect 
in  their  wisdom,  learning  and  justice;  and 
that  its   influence  had   been  beneficent   in 
every  direction.     Until  some  institution  can 
produce  such  evidence  in  its  own  support, 
you  may   without   impiety   legislate   upon 
everything,  and  reform  everything. 

§  43.  Tncth.—Seek  truth  and  study  the 
methods  in  which  it  should  be  sought. 
Remember  that  it  flourishes  only  in  the 
light  of  free  inquiry;  that  it  demands  the 
investigation  of  all  obtainable  evidence;  that 
it  detests  credulous  ignorance,  hereditary 
beliefs,  and  threats  of  punishment  for  honest 
opinion;  that  it  attaches  no  value  to  faiths 
accepted  without    deliberate  consideration 


MORALS 


51 


of  all  that  is  said  against  them;  and  that  it 
appeals  as  its  ultimate  authority  to  the 
reason  of  each  man  separately. 

§  44.  Marty rdo77i,— Do  not  seek  martyr- 
dom. You  are  under  no  obligation  to  pro- 
claim doctrines  that,  by  the  people  around 
you,  are  regarded  as  criminal  or  highly  per- 
nicious to  the  general  welfare.  If  your 
neighbors  accept  false  and  debasing  opinions, 
you  can  presumably  do  more  good  by  teach- 
ings that  will  please  and  gradually  elevate 
them,  than  by  offending  them  so  that  they 
would  at  once  burn,  banish  or  avoid  you. 

§  45.  Co7icltision, — Our  century  gives  us 
motives  for  justice  stronger  than  those 
presented  to  men  in  earlier  periods.  For  as 
life,  health,  freedom,  and  property  are  more 
secure,  our  physical  comforts  are  greater  and 
many  of  them  are  new  to  humanity;  our  in- 
tellectual enjoyments  are  more  numerous, 
and,  as  a  class,  more  acute  and  more  pro- 
longed. In  many  respects  we  have  gained 
much  on  the  past,  in  few  have  we  lost  per- 
ceptibly. 

Compare  our  condition  with  that  of  the  in- 
habitants of  Southern  Europe  in  the  time  of 
Cicero.     Then,  warfare  was  continuous;  pes- 


52 


RELIGIOUS   DUTIES 


MORALS 


53 


tilences  and  famines  frequent.  Most  of  the 
people  were  slaves;  none  save  those  of  the 
capital  had  any  influence  in  the  general 
government.  Manual  labor  was  disgrace- 
ful, and,  as  it  is  the  sphere  of  the  multitude,. 
humanity  was  dishonored.  Every  near  and 
powerful  foreign  nation  was  hated.  Every 
freeman  was  a  warrior,  much  of  whose  time 
was  devoted  to  arms.  The  bulk  of  the  sol- 
diers in  a  defeated  army  was  slaughtered  on 
the  battle-field.  The  people  of  a  conquered 
country  were  enslaved. 

The  multitude  were  deep  in  ignorance  and 
superstition.  The  art  of  reading  was  known 
to  few.  Materials  for  writing  were  dear 
and|inconvenient.  Pen,  paper,  printing-press 
and  newspaper,  for  general  use,  had  not 
made  their  appearance.  There  was  no  chem- 
istry, physiology,  astronomy,  telescope, 
microscope,  or  thermometer.  The  concep- 
tion of  natural  law  had  not  arisen. 

No  gas  or  lamp  with  a  chimney  gave  a 
bright  light  for  evening  entertainments. 
The  chief  shows  in  the  great  city  were  those 
in  which,  without  protest  from  philosopher 
or  priest,  men  slaughtered  one  another  before 
immense    crowds,    including    the    highest 


officials.  Carriages  with  springs,  smoothly 
paved  roads  suitable  for  such  vehicles,  com- 
mon-carrier wagons  making  regular  trips 
with  passengers  or  freight,  and  saddles  with 
stirrups  are  products  of  later  times. 

Among  other  things  produced,  introduced 
or  made  common  in  Europe  since  the  time 
of  Cicero,  are  soaf),  cotton  clothing,  knit 
clothing,  friction  match,  toothbrUvSh,  win- 
dow glass,  spectacles,  house  chimney,  steam 
and  electricity  with  their  appliances,  cast 
iron,  tinned  iron,  porcelain,  forks,  napkins, 
numerous  vegetables  and  fruits,  and  the 
habit  of  frequently  washing  underclothes 
and  bedding. 

In  the  popular  religion  there  has  been  a 
great  change  for  the  better.  The  sacrifices 
of  brutes,  the  consultation  of  omens,  the 
oracular  prediction  of  future  events,  and  the 
performance  of  sacerdotal  ceremonies  have 
ceased  or  are  no  longer  the  exclusive  func- 
tions of  the  sacerdotal  profession.  The 
priests  have  become  agents  of  charity, 
counselors  of  the  weak  and  afflicted,  teach- 
ers of  morality  and  general  knowledge,  and 
leaders  in  or  prominent  patrons  of  archi- 
tecture, artistic  furnishing,  painting,  sculp- 
ture, elocution,  oratory  and  authorship. 


•r" 


=! 


54 


RELIGIOUS   DITTIES 


IV 


,-■■  / 


Human  nature  is  the  .same  now  as  it  was 
two  thousand  years  ago,  but  not  so  its  modes 
of  living  and  thinking.  The  comforts,  the 
luxuries,  the  refinements,  the  tastes,  the 
amusements,  the  social,  political  and  relig- 
ious institutions,  the  arts  and  the  ambitions 
of  men  have  improved  vastly.  Intellectual 
occupations  and  influences  have  become 
more  prominent.  Industrialism  has  suc- 
ceeded militancy  as  the  dominant  feature  of 
society.  Benevolent  institutions  have  be- 
come more  numerous.  One  of  the  common 
hopes  and  chief  pleasures  is  to  do  something 
that  will  benefit  all  our  fellow-men,  including 
those  to  whom  we  are  not  bound  by  any  tie 
of  blood,  personal  acquaintance  or  country. 
If  it  was  evident  to  Cicero,  Seneca,  Epictetus, 
Marcus  Aurelius  and  their  contemporaries 
that  virtue  was  the  only  road  to  the  highest 
pleasure  in  life,  the  proof,  with  the  aid  of 
the  additional  light  of  intervening  centuries, 
should  be  a  hundred-fold  clearer  to  us.  It 
will  be  still  clearer  to  coming  generations 
than  it  is  to  us.  We  can  look  back  with 
satisfaction  and  forward  with  confidence. 


THK   END 


170 
Hi'Hefl 

Code  of  moTals. 


H63 


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